Why bookings go wrong in a busy restaurant
In most Gulf restaurants a booking arrives in five different ways: a phone call to the branch, a WhatsApp message to the manager, a direct message on Instagram, a guest who walks up to the host stand, and a note scribbled in a paper book. On a Thursday night or during the iftar rush nobody can see all of them at once. Two families end up booked on the same table, a birthday request never reaches the kitchen, and the team only finds out about a no show when the table has sat empty for forty minutes. A table reservation system fixes this by putting every booking in one list that the floor team, the till and the manager all read.
What the reservation system in Wink You covers
- Online booking from the Reservation button on your QR Digital Menu, with the request arriving as Pending.
- Bookings typed in by staff in Business Admin for phone calls and guests at the door.
- Today's bookings on the POS, so the cashier or host can confirm and seat without opening the dashboard.
- A table can never be booked twice for overlapping times.
- Statuses for every step: Pending, Confirmed, Seated, Completed, No Show and Cancelled.
- Special requests that the floor team sees on the till and that go on the kitchen ticket once the guests are seated.
- A confirmation email, and an optional reminder email, for guests who have an email on their customer profile.
How guests book a table from your QR Digital Menu
On the welcome page of your menu the guest taps Reservation. They type their name (a phone number is optional), choose the number of guests, pick the date and time, and add any special requests such as a birthday or a high chair. Then they tap Confirm Reservation. The request reaches you as Pending, your staff get a notification and an email, and the booking shows on the Reservations page and on the POS. You confirm it, and seat the guests when they arrive.
Online bookings follow three limits. They can be made up to 90 days ahead and never in the past, and only inside the branch's Opening Hours. A branch with no opening hours set accepts any time. Staff booking from Business Admin can go beyond the 90 day window or outside opening hours, but never into the past: a time that has already gone (after a few minutes of grace) is refused. If you do not take bookings at all, turn off Reservations under Customer Features in QR Digital Menu Settings and the button disappears from your menu.
How staff add a phone booking
- Open Dine in, then Reservations, and click New Reservation.
- Pick the Branch and the Date, then set the Start Time and the End Time. The end time is when the table is free again, and it is what stops a second booking on the same table.
- Choose a Table, or No table, and the Party Size.
- Pick an Existing Customer, or type the Guest Name and Phone.
- Set the Status, for example Confirmed once the guest has confirmed, and add any Special Requests.
- Click New Reservation to save.
A time outside opening hours is allowed for staff, but a party bigger than the seats of the chosen table is refused, so pick a table with enough seats. What it never allows is two live bookings on the same table at overlapping times: the check runs when you save and again in the database, so two staff members booking at the same second cannot both win.
Confirm, seat, complete or mark a no show
Each booking has buttons for the next step: Confirm, Seat, Mark Complete, No Show and Cancel. Edit changes the details, and Delete removes a booking for good (owner and branch managers only). The allowed steps follow the status: a completed visit cannot go back to pending, a cancelled booking can be confirmed again, and a no show can still be seated if the guests turn up late. The cards at the top count Today, Pending, Seated Now and No Shows, so the manager sees the shape of the night at a glance.
On the POS the same list sits under Reservations at the top of the screen, sorted by arrival time with the party size, table and special requests. A blue tick confirms a pending booking, a green chair seats the guests at a free table (or Seat without a table), and a red cross marks a no show.
Emails to the guest
A booking created as Confirmed, or confirmed later, emails the guest a confirmation when their customer profile has an email address. Wink You can also send a Reservation reminder three hours before a confirmed booking, once. The reminder is off until you switch it on in your Emails settings, and it only goes to guests who booked more than three hours ahead and who have an email. A guest who booked from the QR menu gives a phone number, not an email, so they get no email at all.
What is not included
- No deposit or prepayment on a table booking. Deposits exist for catering events, not for tables.
- No SMS or WhatsApp reminders. Email is the only reminder channel today.
- Reservations are not part of every plan. Without them the Reservations page shows a lock and guests do not see the Reservation button on the menu.
Frequently asked questions
How do customers book a table at my restaurant online?
They open your QR Digital Menu, tap Reservation on the welcome page, fill in the party, date and time, and tap Confirm Reservation. You confirm it from Reservations or from the POS.
Can the same table be booked twice by mistake?
No. A table cannot hold two live bookings whose times overlap. That is why each booking has an end time.
How do I stop online bookings for a while?
Open QR Digital Menu Settings, go to Customer Features and turn off Reservations, then Save. Staff can still add bookings in Business Admin.
Who can handle reservations?
Anyone whose role has Handle reservations and the waitlist. By default that is the owner, branch managers, cashiers and waiters. Deleting a booking is for the owner and branch managers.
Reservations are part of the QR Digital Menu and dine in tools: see winkyou.com/products/qr-menu. For the exact steps, watch winkyou.com/support/dine-in/how-to-add-a-reservation and winkyou.com/support/qr-digital-menu/how-customers-book-a-table.